The majority of its manpower was returned to civilian employment, although around 4,000 men were sent to Italy to reinforce the 2nd Division, seeing further action before the end of the war in May 1945.

[4] The 36th Battalion was accompanied by detachments from the divisional engineer, artillery and service units as N Force.

[1] Almost immediately, however, manpower became an issue and during the early months of 1943 it became clear that it would not be possible to raise the division to full strength.

The division's 14th Brigade Group, under Brigadier Leslie Potter, landed at the US base a month later as a follow-on force.

[11] Upon arrival, they were given the task of clearing the remaining Japanese forces from the north of the island so that it could be used to establish a radar station and a motor torpedo boat base.

The 35th and 37th Battalions were dispatched along with supporting elements on two axes of advance: one up the east coast, the other up the west.

[12] The main units involved were:[13] The 3rd NZ Division's operations in the Treasury Islands ran from 25 October to 26 November 1943.

The 8th Brigade Group, under the command of Brigadier Robert Row, landed on the islands on 27 October in New Zealand's first opposed amphibious operation since Gallipoli in 1915.

On the night of 1/2 November the Japanese attempted a counterattack, launching a determined attack on the Allied line at Soanotalu.

[20] In order to cope with this crisis the NZ Government saw no option other than to disband one of the country's two infantry divisions.

[21][23] In October 1942, the main elements of the 3rd NZ Division were:[3] This organisation was altered for the campaign in the Solomon Islands.